Could it be? – Week 10 College Football TV Schedule

The NCAA decided, two days ago, to modify their rules about how players can make money off their name, image and likeness (NIL).  If you had said this would happen even a month or so ago I would have scoffed at the notion.  But once California passed a bill to allow collegiate athletes to make money off their NIL it felt like a matter of time where the NCAA would have to at least meet them halfway.  Whether they just let it be carte blanche or there will be some relatively strict rules doesn’t matter so much at this point.  It’s a step in the right direction.  Funny how SMU is in the Top 15 for the first time since before they got their death penalty for paying players.

What else does this mean?  Oh yes it will be happening soon: the return of the NCAA Football video games.  I will actually buy a new system to get this game.  I still love it on my PS3 and don’t play it near enough to be honest with you.  This is super exciting.  Sorry Doug Flutie Maximum Football.  Your stay at the top (so to speak) will be temporary and probably lost to history but hey, you gave it a shot, right?

We are now starting almost a month straight of FOOTBAW on every day!  Rejoice all you college football hooligans!  Normally I would say this is where the schedules become seriously stacked.  You might notice something different about this week’s schedule though…that it’s about as stacked as a single, sad pancake.  Let’s get to the schedule and examine this odd phenomenon (at least for college football).

Thursday

		US	Canada
Georgia Southern at #20 Appalachian State	8:00 PM
West Virginia at #12 Baylor	8:00 PM

Baylor tries to stay perfect with a below-average Mountaineers team coming to Waco.  Speaking of Mountaineers, App State also tries to stay undefeated and in the Group of Five race against rival Georgia Southern.  This is one of very few high points to the schedule.

Friday

		US	Canada
Princeton at Cornell	6:00 PM
Navy at UConn	8:00 PM

Technically this is football.  I guess you could be interested on how UConn’s defense handles Navy who is playing like Army was supposed to play this season (and vice versa).

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#14 Michigan at Maryland	Noon
Boston College at Syracuse	Noon
Northern Illinois at Central Michigan	Noon
NC State at #23 Wake Forest	Noon
Houston at UCF	Noon
Buffalo at Eastern Michigan	Noon
Nebraska at Purdue	Noon
UTSA at Texas A&M	Noon

Not a ton here as it really is the appetizer to the rest of the day which is I guess better but not amazing by any stretch of the imagination.  Big games for Nebraska and Wake Forest but for slightly different reasons.  UB-EMU could end up being the surprise great early game.  Other than that, it’s football and that’s all that counts at this point.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Virginia Tech at #16 Notre Dame	2:30 PM
Miami at Florida State	3:30 PM
Rutgers at Illinois	3:30 PM
#6 Florida vs. #8 Georgia (in Jacksonville)	3:30 PM
Army at Air Force	3:30 PM
TCU at Oklahoma State	3:30 PM
Arkansas State at ULM	3:30 PM
#22 Kansas State at Kansas	3:30 PM
UTEP at North Texas	3:30 PM
Wofford at #4 Clemson	4:00 PM
Tulsa at Tulane	4:00 PM
#9 Utah at Washington	4:00 PM
Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech	4:00 PM
Mississippi State at Arkansas	4:00 PM
Oregon State at Arizona	4:30 PM

Now this gets good.  The Cocktail Party!  Another four games involving a ranked team.  Plus Pitt and Georgia Tech in the crazy ACC Coastal.  Makes for quite a good afternoon slate which I won’t call great because it isn’t.  OSU-UA, MSU-Arkansas and Arkansas State-ULM (which somehow gets on to ESPNU) aren’t exactly must-watch.  Considering we are into November now, these are not really the kinds of games that would even come close to highlighting anything.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
#17 Cincinnati at East Carolina	7:00 PM
Ole Miss at #11 Auburn	7:00 PM
UAB at Tennessee	7:00 PM
Northwestern at Indiana	7:00 PM
#15 SMU at #24 Memphis	7:30 PM
Virginia at North Carolina	7:30 PM
Vanderbilt at South Carolina	7:30 PM
#7 Oregon at USC	8:00 PM

If it wasn’t for SMU-Memphis which, at this point, could be a candidate for game of the year if it comes close to past AAC big games, the primetime timeslot wouldn’t be as good as the afternoon timeslot which seems to be happening with more and more regularity. Oregon-USC should be a good one as this could be the game that gives Clay Helton his safety into next season (and perhaps continues to destroy the Pac-12’s College Football Playoff chances.  Don’t sleep on UAB-Tennessee as that could be VERY interesting.  UVA-UNC is a big ACC (Crazy) Coastal Division matchup.  Despite all I’ve said here, though, it is still one of the weaker primetime skeds of the season.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Colorado at UCLA	9:00 PM
BYU at Utah State	10:00 PM
#21 Boise State at San Jose State	10:30 PM
New Mexico at Nevada	10:30 PM

Any big games here?  No.  But Boise State has to not trip up against a surprisingly decent SJSU team.  The other games are college football games so I will watch them as well and get less sleep than I should going into Sunday morning.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville) (3:30, CBS) – The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party!  They should have Uncle Verne come back to help out in the booth even it’s for just part of the game.  Or they could do what I have said they should do: have an open bar in the booth.  Drunk Gary Danielson?  Think of the ratings!  Anyway, the winner here has basically clinched the SEC East since no other team is close to these two.  Should be electric in the home of the Jag-You-Ares.

SMU at Memphis (7:30, ABC) – I love to see these American Conference games in primetime on ABC.  It usually means it’s a game that will probably be the biggest piece of the Group of Five race for the New Year’s Six spot.  Also, it’s SMU.  SMU!  Really this shouldn’t be happening but the Mustangs have surprised everyone and now get the biggest national spotlight since…well you know.  Don’t sleep on Memphis either.  They were my pick for the New Year’s Six and other than a terrible loss to Temple and a surprisingly tough win over Tulsa, they have looked damn good.  They could actually put Appalachian State into the driver’s seat if they can defeat the Stangs here.

Oregon at USC (8:00, FOX) – Oregon at #7.  Are we back to the Oregon Ducks of old?  Who knows but I would honestly consider this a speed bump game for Oregon as we don’t know which USC will show up.  Considering what these two teams can be like, don’t be surprised if the game is going on after midnight (which is official Pac-12 After Dark time).  As I say almost every week, the favourite here (Oregon) losing would be disastrous to the conference’s (Pac-12) CFP chances, which may be in the negative at this point anyway.

Virginia Tech at Notre Dame (2:30, NBC) – NBC going with the classic 2:30 start time for this one to give it more of a spotlight.  Smart move.  The Hokies are just outside the Top 25 which is surprising until you realize they are 5-2 and have been playing pretty good.  Justin Fuente’s hot seat is now a lot less hot and the last chapter of the Bud Foster story might actually end up being great.  A second straight loss here by the Irish could spell trouble for Brian Kelly as the rumours are hot and heavy that Urban Meyer might be hired to bring Touchdown Jesus back to glory.  Wouldn’t that just piss off all the Fighting Irish haters?

Georgia Southern at Appalachian State (Thursday, 8:00, specialty pack) – When has a Sun Belt game ever been in my top five games of the week?  I don’t feel like looking so I will just say never.  Depending on what happens in the second best game of the week, this could end up being hugely important in the whole Group of Five rankings.  I don’t see the Mountaineers losing this one but Georgia Southern has given them fits in the past so don’t put it past them to knock App State out of the ranks of the undefeated.  Plus it’s Halloween night so let’s say it could be a weird night to start this week of college football.

Honourable mention: NC State at Wake Forest (Noon, TSN1); Kansas State at Kansas (yes, the battle for Kansas and it goes off at 3:30, FloSports); Utah at Washington (4:00, FOX).

Some gambling fun and games

How about my Michigan over Notre Dame pick!  And my Florida State over Syracuse pick!  Just ignore most of the rest of my picks last week though.  But hey we are on to a new week with new picks so let’s do this!

Notre Dame over Virginia Tech

NC State over Wake Forest (upset number one!)

Appalachian State over Georgia Southern

Kansas State over Kansas

Georgia over Florida (upset number two!)

Oregon over USC

Washington over Utah (upset number three!)

Memphis over SMU (upset number four?)

Eastern Michigan over Buffalo (upset number five!)

Tennessee over UAB

Illinois over Rutgers

Thursday Night Football is upon us again and hey this could be pretty good.  San Francisco at Arizona.  I am very interested to see if the Niners can get to 8-0 which would be something special.  The execs at FOX have to be super happy to get an up-and-coming Cardinals team against a really good San Fran team.  FOX (and I guess the NFL Network) have got a pretty darn good schedule this year for Thursday Night Football.  Honestly, Monday Night Football is the one thing I don’t watch nearly as much anymore.  If they took it off the air, I don’t think I would miss it.  Crazy I know but it rarely has good games anymore.  I would say “Poor ESPN” but it’s ESPN so no.

I, as per usual, will be on Twitter this Saturday although I have to take breaks throughout the day.  I am showing my age.  But I do enjoy interacting with people online and it adds to the day of watching 14+ hours of college football (which may or may not require some caffeine assistance).  I try my best to not get into online arguments because people who are willing to go into full argument mode are not ones to even debate because you can’t win a debate against an idiot.   Enjoy the games everyone!

First set of bowl projections

Next week I will do crazy bowl projections because why not?  I am sure that any possibility of next week’s projections happening are about zero and will be lost at about 3:00 in the afternoon next Saturday.  As for these projections?  I don’t want to say they won’t happen but I am no Jerry Palm or ESPN (where I am sure there are like 35 different projections).  They’re wrong a ton at this point so how would I be that much better?  Don’t answer that.  Let’s begin.

Fiesta Bowl	CFP Poll #2 vs. CFP Poll #3	Clemson vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl	CFP Poll #1 vs. CFP Poll #4	Alabama vs. Oklahoma

Yes I have Oklahoma in.  And yes I have them at #4.  Let me explain:

• Oklahoma wins out.  Completely.  They squeak by Baylor and win the Big XII Championship with ease over Iowa State.  With the way the rest of the Top 10 teams are going, this would allow Oklahoma to move back up the chain and grab that final spot during Conference Championship Weekend.
• Alabama also wins out.  Doesn’t matter if they have difficulty with LSU or Auburn or whoever the SEC East champ ends up being.  They win out and they’re #1.  Why?  Because I have them beating LSU in a couple weeks and then Florida in the SEC Championship.
• Clemson runs the table from here on in.  Which makes them easy selections since the Pac-12 is still a bit of a mess.
• Ohio State loses to Michigan but beats Penn State to get the Big Ten East tiebreaker and then destroys Wisconsin in Indy.

Not too bad although some of you are probably already a bit perturbed by the Oklahoma selection.  Now let’s get to the next part of the equation.

Sugar Bowl	SEC #1 vs. Big XII #1	LSU vs Baylor
Rose Bowl	Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1	Penn State vs. Oregon
Orange Bowl	ACC Champ vs. SEC #2/Big Ten #2/Notre Dame/G-5 #1	Virginia vs. Notre Dame
Cotton Bowl	CFP At-Large vs. CFP At-Large/G-5 #1	Auburn vs. Appalachian State

Yes some of this looks a bit wacky.  Let me explain:

• Appalachian State will win the Sun Belt Championship easily and finish unbeaten.  At the end of the regular season, both Boise State and Memphis would be ahead of the Mountaineers in the CFP Rankings.  However, I see both of them losing in their conference championships (Boise to San Diego State and Memphis to Cincinnati).  This leaves App State as the one team left standing in the Group of Five.
• Virginia will win their remaining games and enough will happen in the ACC (or more like the ACC will be like the ACC) for them to sneak in as the ACC’s representative in the Orange Bowl.
• LSU will be knocked out of the Top 4 from a big loss to Alabama in a week and a half.  They drop to #6 and get the SEC tie-in to the Sugar Bowl.
• Baylor will not end up in the Big XII Championship as Iowa State will finish ahead of them in the standings.  The Bears, though, will end up higher ranked than the Cyclones and that difference will only widen when ISU gets blown out by Oklahoma in the Big XII Championship.
• Oregon will win out and beat whoever comes out of the Pac-12 South (either USC or Utah) in quick fashion to clinch their spot in the Granddaddy of them All.
• Notre Dame will be resting on conference championship weekend (sleeping on their pile of NBC money) and will watch all the favourites win which will cement their Top 10 spot which will allow them to be slotted into the Orange Bowl.
• Auburn wins their last few games (except the Iron Bowl) and stays high enough in the rankings to grab the only real at-large spot in the New Year’s Six this year.
• Michigan will win out but I see enough happening above them that they will be just on the outside looking in.
• I have Georgia, Florida (after their SEC Championship loss to Bama), Utah (losing the Pac-12 title tilt to the Ducks) and Minnesota (who doesn’t make it to the Big Ten Championship at all) just outside the New Year’s Six as well.

Alright it’s still a bit of a mess.  This week may solve a few of these scenarios but considering the schedule nothing much will happen unless there are some upsets.  And now the rest of the bowl projections.

Mobile Bowl	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Ohio vs. Arkansas State
Armed Forces Bowl	Big Ten vs. MWC	Northwestern vs. Boise State
Idaho Potato Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	Air Force vs. Buffalo
Gator Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Georgia vs. Nebraska
Birmingham Bowl	SEC vs. American	UAB* vs. Memphis
Outback Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Kentucky vs. Minnesota
Citrus Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Florida vs. Wisconsin
Alamo Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Iowa State vs. Utah
Arizona Bowl	MWC vs. Sun Belt	Utah State vs. Troy
Liberty Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Missouri vs. Oklahoma State
Sun Bowl	Pac-12 vs. ACC	Arizona State vs. Florida State
Belk Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Army* vs. NC State
Redbox Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Iowa vs. Stanford
Music City Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Mississippi State vs. Louisville
First Responder Bowl	Big XII vs. C-USA	Wyoming* vs. Marshall
Camping World Bowl	Big XII vs. ACC	Texas vs. Virginia Tech
Cheez-It Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Kansas State vs. Washington
Holiday Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Michigan vs. USC
Texas Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Texas A&M vs. TCU
Pinstripe Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Michigan State vs. Pittsburgh
Military Bowl	ACC vs. American	Miami vs. Navy
Quick Lane Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Indiana vs. Syracuse
Independence Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Liberty* vs. Wake Forest
Hawaii Bowl	BYU vs. American/C-USA	BYU vs. Cincinnati
Gasparilla Bowl	American vs. C-USA	UCF vs. Western Kentucky
New Orleans Bowl	C-USA vs. Sun Belt	Louisiana Tech vs. Louisiana
Las Vegas Bowl	Pac-12 vs. MWC	Washington State vs. San Diego State
Camellia Bowl	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Northern Illinois vs. Georgia Southern
Boca Raton Bowl	American vs. MAC	Temple vs. Miami-OH
Cure Bowl	American vs. Sun Belt	Tulane vs. Georgia State
New Mexico Bowl	MWC vs. C-USA	Fresno State vs. Southern Miss
Frisco Bowl	American vs. MAC	SMU vs. Ball State
Bahamas Bowl	MAC vs. C-USA	Toledo vs. Florida Atlantic

A few notes on this:

• Two teams who are bowl-eligible would be left out of the party.  At this point they would both be from Conference USA (North Texas and FIU).
• Liberty and Army do not have tie-ins this season so they are slotted in where a conference does not have enough bowl-eligible teams.  This is why Liberty is going to the Independence Bowl (SEC does not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill their slots) and Army goes to the Belk Bowl (to replace the SEC as well).  BYU has a tie-in for the Hawaii Bowl so they get to fly to Honolulu.
• I do not have North Carolina in.  I think they will win one of their last four (I am saying it will be Mercer to the surprise of no one) but not the two out of four needed to go bowling.
• None of the Power Five conferences had too many teams to fill their bowl tie-ins.
• Wyoming also is left out of the Mountain West contracted bowls.  They end up in the final bowl slot available, going to the First Responder Bowl as the Big XII conference wouldn’t have enough eligible teams.  Maybe this year the game will actually be played.
• No one has accepted a bowl bid yet.  This is good.  I kind of hated it when a team like Army or Navy would get to six wins in October and accept a bowl bid.  It’s way too early for that.  That should be more of a late November thing (at the earliest).

No MACtion yet.  No Fun Belt yet.  It’s coming.  But not yet.  For now, no weekday football before Thursdays still.

Well that was a fun non-schedule, non-recap post.  I should do it again sometime.  Enjoy your Tuesday everyone!

Well it took about two months but we finally got it! – Week 9 College Football Recap

Oh.  Yes.  Was it the craziest weekend in college football history?  No.  But it was damn good and it led to a LOT of change in the Top 25.

Look let’s just get right to the recap to talk about the craziest week of the 2019 season.  Saturday started with a banger and it just kept going from there.  It’s the kind of college football Saturday I love to see.  Let’s get to it!

Don’t write off Oklahoma just yet.  We knew the Sooners would have a bit of a tough road to the College Football Playoff.  The loss to Kansas State, however, was a bit shocking.  I mean yes, they came back from being down three scores to within a crazy onside kick of having a shot to win.  But it’s still a loss to an unranked team and those aren’t always forgivable.  As for the Wildcats, they may be in the running to have a rematch with those same Sooners in a little over a month if they can keep this up and somehow pass Baylor who is now…leading the Big XII?  Wow, OK then.

One of the craziest finishes you will ever see.  And, of course, it stars The Hat, Les Miles.  Kansas stays close with Texas Tech and then comes back to tie it up.  They drive for the winning field goal and it’s blocked!  This is where everything went haywire.  A Red Raider player, Douglas Coleman, picked it up.  This is the same guy that leads the nation in interceptions so he knows what to do with the ball.  Except this time when he tried to lateral it to…nobody.  This led to a Jayhawk lineman falling on the ball with 2 seconds left to allow them to get another chance to win the game.  And they made the most of it, ending a wild game and giving Kansas their first win over Texas Tech in 17 years and their first road Big XII win in….look it’s been a long time since Kansas has done anything of note in football.

Florida State-Miami could be actually somewhat important again.  So Florida State used some crazy trickeration to beat Syracuse.  OK that wasn’t the only thing they used as they beat the Orange into dust.  The Orange are so much worse than pretty much everyone thought it’s insane.  I wonder if Dino Babers survives this.  I guess we now know how valuable Eric Dungey was…more valuable than two Lamar Jacksons.  On the other hand, Miami won thanks, in part, to Pitt’s ineptness and Pat Narduzzi’s insistence on yet again going for a field goal when it made sense to try for the touchdown.  It allowed the Canes to drive late and win the game on a 32-yard TD with under a minute left in the game.  Anyway, this means that the winner of the FSU-UM game is almost assuredly going bowling and the loser might not.  Big stakes for two programs who, up until ten years ago, would have scoffed at a game like this.

Rain, Rain on Old Notre Dame!  Brian Kelly has a serious problem with precipitation.  And the fact he loves to pass the damn ball in rainstorms.  I honestly don’t get it and I don’t think many watching understood it either.  At least now the Irish are assuredly out of the College Football Playoff conversation.  That’s music to many people’s ears.  As for the Fighting Harbaughs, they aren’t done yet!  Somehow they stick around and really Michigan would be stupid to fire Jimbo since he has been averaging 10 wins a season.  Unless your last name is Saban or Swinney, you just don’t do that in this day and age.

We are down to a single digit amount of undefeated teams.  And one of them is, yep, you guessed it, Minnesota.  Let’s be real here: the Golden Gophers’ schedule hasn’t been exactly scintillating and full of great teams.  In the end though, it doesn’t matter.  This team will play Penn State, probably, in a battle of undefeateds in November.  Who the hell thought that would happen?  P.J. Fleck is again, rowing the damn boat harder than any coach in America and is changing how the fanbase feels about a team that really hasn’t been this good in about eight decades.

Back to Big XII Upset Watch.  The THIRD upset of the day in the Big XII came in Fort Worth.  The TCU Horned Frogs kept Texas from doing much of anything all day and held on for the victory.  This may have ruined Texas’ chances of getting to the Big XII Championship but considering the way the conference was on this particular day, nothing is out of the question.  We also got to listen to Gary Patterson who barely has a voice at the best of times, try to get through a post-game interview.  He should just learn sign language at this point.

And then there was one.  Well, one team to beat Alabama for the SEC West title.  That team is LSU after winning a close one over Auburn.  Auburn was able to keep up defensively with the amazing LSU offense.  Problem is that their offense could barely do anything.  Bo Nix looked every but the freshman and the running attack mustered basically nothing.  It shows that teams have to play a complete game to beat the Tigers…of LSU.

Yes, the other Wildcats didn’t score a point.  One set of Wildcats got an upset for the ages.  The other, the Northwestern version, has struggled to score all year and are now the worst offense in the FBS.  Yes, even worse than UMass or New Mexico State or Akron or any shitty teams like that.  This week’s loss was to Iowa, a team praying that Minnesota falls off a cliff so that they can sneak through and go to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship.  It would be a very Ferentzian way for the Hawkeyes to get to a conference championship game.

How about the crazy finish in Tulsa?  What was it about crazy finishes in midwestern states?  Memphis certainly didn’t look like a team that was still a New Year’s Six contender.  But it was enough to stay ahead of the Golden Hurricane for most of the game.  But with the Tigers (yes another Tigers) up by one, Tulsa drove down the field and set up a chip shot field goal to win the game.  The fans, as much as they could be in Tulsa, were electric.  Then Tulsa’s kicker pushed the 29-year field goal try left of the uprights and Memphis escaped.  You had to feel for Tulsa who has had some shitty luck this season to be sure.

Oregon should have been punished.  How do you live with yourself when you decide to punt from the opponent’s 33-yard line with 3 minutes to go and a six-point lead?  It’s the kind of playcall that should lead to disaster.  And for a bit, it looked like Mario Cristobal would be punished for it when Wazzu went up by 1 on his Oregon Ducks.  Luckily, they were playing Washington State’s defense and were able to drive for the winning field goal.  Still, someone should slap Cristobal in the face for that bullshit.  You do that if you are up by like 40, not in a close game against an offensive guru.

And now to the other half of the Pac-12…  Yeah Utah leads the Pac-12 South.  After shellacking Cal they look like they are in the driver’s seat.  But they aren’t.  Get this…the team that holds its own destiny is USC.  Yes, that USC.  Clay Helton’s USC.  Their win over Colorado has kept them at the point where they hold the keys to the divisional kingdom thanks to their upset win over the Utes earlier this season. Crazy.

Oh and who is in the ABC Primetime game next week?  Yep, it’s your Southern Methodist University Mustangs.  No kidding.  SMU’s win over hapless Houston, along with Memphis surviving Tulsa, means the Mustangs will travel to the Liberty Bowl to play the Tigers in the big game of the week and the biggest game in the American conference this season.  An SMU win, and they are that much closer to that coveted Group of Five spot in the NY6.  It also means college football has another team playing well in the Metroplex and that’s always good.

Alright, enough recappin’.  Let’s get to the Bossman Top 25!

#1	LSU
#2	Ohio State
#3	Alabama
#4	Penn State
#5	Clemson
#6	Oregon
#7	Florida
#8	Utah
#9	Baylor
#10	Georgia
#11	Michigan
#12	Minnesota
#13	Oklahoma
#14	Auburn
#15	SMU
#16	Iowa
#17	Notre Dame
#18	Wisconsin
#19	Cincinnati
#20	Appalachian State
#21	Boise State
#22	Wake Forest
#23	Texas
#24	Kansas State
#25	Washington

Yes I have Alabama at #3.  They have looked really good but compared to LSU and Ohio State I don’t think they measure up…yet.  Clemson is down at #5 but we know what their schedule is like so no worries there yet.  The first CFP Rankings come out in a little over a week and I am sure The Committee won’t totally agree with my rankings and I honestly don’t give a rat’s ass.  Other than Clemson, no one in the Top 10 has an easy road to the CFP so a lot will change over the next week or two.  Let’s not sleep on Oregon/Utah out of the Pac-12 since they are not far from the Top 4.  With the Big XII becoming a shitshow and the ACC already a disaster, there could be room for a Pac-12 champ in there if a few things happen above them.  Also, remember that Baylor is lurking in the weeds.  Beat Oklahoma and they start looking really good (despite the Sooners loss to KSU).  As for SMU I have them at #15 and the AP Poll has them the same and I feel that their ceiling is #10 unless more of that sweet chaos happens.

Football.  Every.  Day.  That’s right.  Every day between Halloween and the day before American Thanksgiving.  And that day is the only day off between now and December 2nd.  Let’s drink it in and enjoy this!  Saying that we are a little late to the party this year as there is no Tuesday or Wednesday night MACtion or Fun Belt action yet.  But soon.  Be patient.  Have a great week everyone.

Time to Tank? – Week 8 NFL TV Schedule

Alright, I admit it.  Tua Tagovailoa will be a star (probably).  Best quarterback in Alabama history?  Yes although that is a shockingly low bar to hurdle considering the quarterbacks they have had that were successful in Tuscaloosa.   So teams might want to line up to get this hot prospect.  But tanking to get the top pick is not usually a football thing.  You see that shit in the NBA and NHL, not the NFL!  But we may be seeing it this season.  The Dolphins and the Bengals have taken different paths to get to this point but both teams are winless and there is nothing that says they will get a victory all year.  That is until December 22nd which may go down in history as the date the shittiest game has ever been played when these two teams meet up.

The Dolphins have basically stopped playing for Brian Flores and have traded away a couple of players.  The Bengals are just terrible and Andy Dalton basically needs to start fresh somewhere else (although he may be almost done).  Either way, the fans of these two teams have to be so sad at how bad their teams are.  My opinion?  Draft Joe Burrow instead.

Aaaaaaaaanyway, here’s the schedule which does include those two brutally bad teams:

Sunday Early

Denver at Indianapolis	Cleveland, Boston		Ottawa		London, Toronto, Atlantic
Cincinnati vs. LA Rams (in London)	Seattle				Vancouver Island, Alberta
Arizona at New Orleans	Minneapolis, Detroit			TSN3
NY Jets at Jacksonville	Spokane, Rochester, Burlington
Philadelphia at Buffalo		Buffalo, Rochester, Boston	Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Atlantic		Ottawa
LA Chargers at Chicago		Minneapolis
NY Giants at Detroit		Detroit, Burlington	Montreal
Seattle at Atlanta		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane	BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg
Tampa Bay at Tennessee

Sunday Late

Cleveland at New England	All affiliates		All affiliates (except Atlantic)	TSN3	Atlantic
Oakland at Houston
Carolina at San Francisco

Sunday/Monday Primetime

Green Bay at Kansas City	Sunday, 8:30, NBC, TSN 1/3/4/5, CTV Two
Miami at Pittsburgh	Monday, 8:30, TSN 1/3/4

Random Analysis

• And another London game.  Thank God it’s on at 1 with all the other games.  And unless you live out west or have DAZN, you aren’t seeing it.  I am so glad it’s not on at 9:30.  I don’t think I have watched the first half of ANY early London game since they started that.  Too damn early for my liking.
• Three games in the late window but would you even know since YOU WILL GET THE BROWNS AND PATRIOTS AND YOU WILL LIKE IT!  This never happens.  Usually the other network will have their late game on in some part of Canada.  Not so this Sunday.  I mean what if you were a Raiders fan or a Panthers fan or a Texans fan?  You would be rare up here.  Now a Niners fan…that I could see and I am surprised a team that is undefeated will get no play in Canada.
• The other game not being shown is in the early part of the day.  Bucs-Titans no one really cares about.  To be honest, we don’t get many Bucs or Titans games up here.  I don’t think I’m missing much.
• Packers!  Chiefs!  Sunday Night aw damn it no Patrick Mahomes.  This could have been a candidate for game of the damn year but Patty Mahomes is out with a dislocated kneecap which he is ALREADY PRACTICING ON?  He might just be a cyborg.
• In contrast to SNF, Monday Night Football looks like an absolutely atrocious matchup.  The only thing that could make it worse is a lot of rain.  Checking the weather it looks like they will be getting rain all weekend so hopefully the drainage system at Heinz Field is working well.

Hopefully it’s another fun weekend of football.  I mean when’s the last time it’s been a fully terrible weekend of football when you combine college and pro?  Has that ever happened?  I’m not going to even look.  Enjoy the games everyone!

Are they going to just keep falling? – Week 9 College Football TV Schedule

OK we all know the facts here.  Clemson plays in a shitty conference.  They have won a bunch of games in a row.  But they play in a SHITTY CONFERENCE.  They haven’t played well so far this season yet are undefeated.  It’s the ACC for God’s sake!.  So of course they have been passed by Alabama, LSU and, now, Ohio State in the AP rankings.  Clemson sits at #4 yet they are one of only ten undefeated teams remaining and they are the defending national champions.

We get it.  If you win out, you should get in to the College Football Playoff.  But the ACC, again, is horrible (outside of your team).  It’s not your fault.  But maybe now you kind of have an idea of how UCF has felt lately.  They play in the American which is a Group of Five conference.  It’s the best G-5 conference but still a G-5 conference.  So they went undefeated and had almost no chance of making it in to the Final Four.  If there isn’t promotion and relegation you are going to get a year like this every so often where this is one team in a conference that is great and the rest of the conference is average to horrible.  So Tigers fans, calm down.  People who think they know college football and are pissed about this?  Do the same.  Smoke a J.  It’s legal.  Things will work itself out…unless they for some reason drop a game to Boston College and then you’re shit out of luck.

Alright, enough about the ACC situation.  On to more important matters (for us).  The schedule!

Thursday

		US	Canada
Jackson State at Prairie View A&M	7:30 PM
#16 SMU at Houston	7:30 PM

Last year at this time we had some Sun Belt and MAC games on Thursday nights, if not earlier.  Up until this point, that isn’t the case.  I am a little disappointed since this would normally be the time where the month-long FOOTBALLGASM would begin with football on every damn day for over four weeks!  I think a few things are in play here:  First, the MAC has been pushing to have more games on Saturdays for attendance purposes.  And second, with the advent of the ACC Network, both the MAC and Sun Belt have reaped the rewards by having games on ESPNU on Saturday when that never happened in the past.  So anyway, at least the American is on tonight and the team that might just be America’s Darling right now, SMU, hopes to stay undefeated as they play a Houston team where everyone seems to want to redshirt the rest of this season.  SMU being a favourite of fans is kind of interesting after what they have gone through for three-plus decades but it’s fun to watch, I will admit.

Friday

		US	Canada
Columbia at Dartmouth	6:00 PM
USC at Colorado	9:00 PM

The Clay Helton Roller Coaster of Fun and/or Doom continues as the Trojans head to the Rocky Mountains to face the Buffaloes.  USC can continue their slow run at the Pac-12 South title that they probably won’t get but them being actually still in it is hilarious and pathetic all at once.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#5 Oklahoma at Kansas State	Noon
Illinois at Purdue	Noon
Liberty at Rutgers	Noon
San Jose State at Army	Noon
Miami at Pittsburgh	Noon
#20 Iowa at Northwestern	Noon
#21 Appalachian State at South Alabama	Noon
#13 Wisconsin at #3 Ohio State	Noon
Mississippi State at Texas A&M	Noon

I am still not understanding why the ACC Network does not show all the ACC games not being shown on ABC or an ESPN network.  The fact that the regional FOX networks still exist to show these games are weird.  I guess that’s part of the weird agreement as these FOX RSN’s kind of flap in the wind and no one really owns them.

As for the schedule, it’s pretty good.  tOSU-Wisky a little less important than it was before the Badgers’ upset loss to Illinois.  Huge Sun Belt game as App State continues to try and stay in the New Year’s Six conversation.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#6 Penn State at Michigan State	3:30 PM
Virginia at Louisville	3:30 PM
Indiana at Nebraska	3:30 PM
#9 Auburn at #2 LSU	3:30 PM
Tulane at Navy	3:30 PM
Maryland at #17 Minnesota	3:30 PM
Syracuse at Florida State	3:30 PM
#15 Texas at TCU	3:30 PM
Oklahoma State at #23 Iowa State	3:30 PM
FIU at Middle Tennessee	3:30 PM
Arizona at Stanford	3:30 PM
USF at East Carolina	3:45 PM
Duke at North Carolina	4:00 PM
South Carolina at Tennessee	4:00 PM

A massive CBS game overshadows pretty much everything in this timeslot.  We shall see whether LSU is looking ahead to Bama or is smart enough to realize that the Tide’s big rival is a force as well.  CBS (and more importantly, poor Brad Nessler) gets a gift from the college football gods and gets this game between two Top 10 teams in their SEC on CBS afternoon timeslot.  Easily the game of the day (which I will tell you again below) and could be one of the most important games of this season.

I have noticed something this year: no reverse mirrors.  That’s nice to see to be honest.  Honestly, in 2019, it has to be a headache to have these reverse mirrors.  Especially since pretty much all college football fans would probably have both ABC and ESPN2 so it would make no difference which channel it’s on.  Also, for us Canadians, the specialty packs (or more like the people running the specialty packs) don’t have to worry about fucking up and showing the same game as is being shown on ABC.

Saturday Primetime​

		US	Canada
Memphis at Tulsa	7:00 PM
Arkansas at #1 Alabama	7:00 PM
UCF at Temple	7:00 PM
Texas Tech at Kansas	7:00 PM
#8 Notre Dame at #19 Michigan	7:30 PM
Boston College at #4 Clemson	7:30 PM
Colorado State at Fresno State	7:30 PM
Arizona State at UCLA	7:30 PM
Missouri at Kentucky	7:30 PM

Notre Dame-Michigan.  What else do we need to say?  These two teams could both be under .500 and they would still get a huge audience.  It’s just the facts.  It also helps that there is nothing else that could really be the top game in this timeslot.

Not quite as good as the afternoon slate.  Not even really close.  But these are the kinds of schedules that can give us great games.  Clemson has to show they are still CFP-worthy, Temple has a test hosting UCF and could Les Miles finally get his Jayhawks to crawl out of the basement?

Saturday Late Night​​

		US	Canada
California at #12 Utah	10:00 PM
Utah State at Air Force	10:15 PM
San Diego State at UNLV	10:30 PM
Washington State at #11 Oregon	10:30 PM

Two Pac-12 After Dark games and two Late Night Mountain West games. I would say Wazzu-Oregon is the most important game in this timeslot but Cal-Utah could be interesting as well.  Oregon and Utah are on a collision course in the Pac-12 title game so any hiccups would be a huge blow to the entire conference (I feel like I say this every week).

Games to set your eyeballs on

Auburn at LSU (3:30, CBS) – Tiger Bowl time!  At one point there was doubt whether this would be the game of the week.  That’s not the case now.  I am finally used to offensive juggernaut LSU.  It took a while but I am all in with this.  I think we are heading towards a 1 vs. 2 showdown with the Tigers and Bama…unless the Gus Bus decides to run over Da Coach O and sets up a huge Iron Bowl about a month from now.

Wisconsin at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – No one should sleep on the Badgers despite their crushing loss to Illinois.  Paul Chryst is still one of the better coaches in college football right now.  They have Jonathan Taylor on the ground.  They have a team that could still sneak into the College Football Playoff.  We know what can happen here.  Wisky is still looking up at Minnesota in the Big Ten West but the Badgers hold their fate in their hands.  Win out and it’s off to Indianapolis.  Ohio State, on the other hand, is sneaking up on nobody and there are some that think this team is the best in the country.  Justin Fields has been better than advertised and Chase Young is, arguably, the best defensive player in college football.  This could end up being a slobberknocker (as ol’ JR would say).

Notre Dame at Michigan (7:30, ABC) – I may even be stretching it putting this game at #3 but I am going with my gut here.  I am starting to get a little sick of the Harbaugh Hot Seat talks.  The guy wins, on average, almost ten games a season.  Some programs would kill to have a coach like that.  Yet Michigan fans think the year starts with a 1 and that they should be Top 10 every year and in the national championship conversation.  Not saying Michigan has underperformed at times, but they aren’t terrible.  Plus, who else would you hire that would be willing to come to the pressure cooker in Ann Arbor?

Washington State at Oregon (10:30, specialty pack) – Here is Wazzu’s chance to destroy the Pac-12’s CFP hopes.  A surprisingly pedestrian 4-3 Cougs team could give the Ducks some trouble with Anthony Gordon throwing the ball like 83 times a game.  Oregon’s defense will be tested for sure.  As I mentioned above, this is the kind of game the Ducks need to win easily, not like they did against Washington the previous week.  In the end though, you have to admit that Mario Cristobal has done a great job in Eugene which isn’t surprising (except to schools like FIU who fired him for some odd reason a few years ago).

Oklahoma at Kansas State (Noon, ABC/TSN2) – The list of best games falls off a cliff here.  There could have been like six or seven different games here and every one of them would have been fine in this spot.  Anyway, this may be the best spot for something weird to happen as Kansas State is pretty good under Chris Klieman and could pull off the upset to create at least a bit more chaos at the top.

Honourable mention: Penn State at Michigan State (3:30, ABC); Oklahoma State at Iowa State (3:30, FloSports); California at Utah (10:00, FloSports)

Some gambling fun and games

OK I got none of my upset picks correct.  For a bit, I thought Washington and Oklahoma State would pull it off but no.  As for the rest of my picks I was almost perfect so let’s see if we can keep that ball rolling this week.

Michigan over Notre Dame (upset to start things off)

Utah over California

Oregon over Washington State

Michigan State over Penn State (another upset!)

Ohio State over Wisconsin

LSU over Auburn

Oklahoma over Kansas State

Iowa State over Oklahoma State

FIU over Middle Tennessee

Florida State over Syracuse

San Diego State over UNLV

As I said before…we are not quite at football every day.  Soon though.

Thursday Night Football again!  We get Washington heading to Minnesota.  Not the greatest game but they can’t all be.  I have heard a few people marvel at the games that TNF gets.  Well since they aren’t ESPN, the NFL isn’t going to give them the shittiest games.  That’s basically the gist of it.  It really has replaced Monday Night Football as the second-best night game of the week.  Like I know MNF is an institution but to be honest, I could do without it.  And many teams would feel the same way I’m sure as a lot of times these teams get a short week to prepare after their MNF game and it’s amazing what one less day of rest and practice can do.

Also, you may have noticed I finally have Pac-12 Network listings on DAZN.  So if you get DAZN, you’re welcome.

Will I watch like 26 hours of football this weekend?  No.  But I will do my best to watch as much as I can.  At some point I have other plans and have certain things to do.  Not making excuses.  Just saying that some of my recaps might make it seem like I barely watched the game.  And that might be true.  Enjoy the games everyone!

Fear the Beard! – Week 8 College Football Recap

Look, we knew upsets were coming.  But this might have been beyond crazy.  What happened in Champaign this past Saturday rocked the college football world a bit, that’s for sure.  Every year there is an upset in the Big Ten that seems to defy logic.  This one is no different.  This wasn’t Purdue’s utter destruction of Ohio State last year but still, nonetheless, impressive.  Wisconsin really had no response to Illinois’ stingy defense.  And the Illini came back when Wisky couldn’t put them away, setting up the game winning field goal with no time left.  So another one has bit the dust.  I am hoping that next week more undefeated teams lose so we can get down to single digits going into November.  Because let’s be honest: the more chaos there is in the Top 25, the better the season usually is.  Now with social media, any massive upset of, say, Alabama or Clemson or Oklahoma would be met with Twitmageddon.

The rest of the recap

• How about them Trojans?  Yeah they are all over the place.  They crush Arizona and look like they might be back in the Pac-12 South race.  Clay Helton may be off the hot seat in Los Angeles…well at least for six days.  I still believe they won’t be able to overtake Utah to win the division despite the fact they hold the tiebreaker after beating the Utes last month.  Knowing the Pac-12’s luck, USC will somehow win the division and upset Oregon for the Pac-12 title, obliterating any Pac-12 hopes for the College Football Playoff or New Year’s Six outside the Rose Bowl.  Trojan fans would be temporarily happy but that’s about all the good that could come out of this.
• So Jim Harbaugh mentioned that the second half would be Michigan’s “finest hour.”  I mean sure, they came back from a 14-point deficit to almost tie things up.  Which, in front of the Whiteout, one of the most intimidating crowds in college football, is an accomplishment.  But this was a team that was supposed to be great.  I had them in the CFP goddammit!  Oh well, who knows about next week but they have Notre Dame so Michigan better have a finer few hours against the Irish or their chances of doing anything this season are gone.
• NC State lost to Boston College.  Boston College.  What in the holy hell is wrong with the ACC (outside of Clemson and, perhaps, Virginia)?
• Tennessee was fired up for their game against Bama and actually held the lead at one point.  I mean they got smoked after that but I am sure they beat the spread.  Honestly, if it wasn’t for a few gaffes by the Vols, it’s a pretty close game.  And now Tua Tagovailoa is injured.  He should only miss one game and it’s against Arkansas but still, Nick Saban has to be a bit worried about the health of his star quarterback.
• LSU had no problem with the Mississippi State Bulldogs.  Wait.  No.  That’s not true.  There is one thing that everyone will remember about this game and it was a problem for their Heisman candidate, Joe Burrow.  He was pantsed during the game and everyone could see most of his ass.  Embarrassing for sure…unless you are a guy who could end up making millions in the NFL and is probably big man on campus right now.  Now we await, LSU’s game with Bama as it could end up being #1 vs. #2 (unless something goes wrong before then).
• Feel-good moment of the week came in the Minnesota-Rutgers game.  If you haven’t heard of the story of Casey O’Brien, go look it up.  A rough life for sure, with having cancer when he was younger and then having it come back on three separate occasions.  He ends up getting an offer to walk on at Minnesota, the only team to give him that kind of offer.  He finally got the chance to be the holder on a few extra points during the Gophers’ blowout win versus the woeful Scarlet Knights.  So this team is surprisingly undefeated, looking headlong into a November matchup with undefeated Penn State that could be the biggest game in program history and now this.  So many reasons to root for this team.
• Oklahoma looked good in a victory over West Virginia.  But no one cared.  The only thing everyone cared about is that everyone involved in the Sooner Schooner crash was OK.  And yes, everyone was OK.  Hopefully they can figure things out since this is the second time this season the Schooner has tipped over.
• How about those Vanderbilt Commodores?  Yeah they have been shitty this season.  I mean they’ve lost to UNLV for God’s sake.  Then the Dores went out and beat a ranked Mizzou team that could have been a thorn in the side of the SEC East leaders, Georgia and Florida.  And after the game, Derek Mason basically cut a promo that is one of the best post-game interviews of a college football coach of all-time.  For his passion alone, he deserves another year at one of the toughest jobs in the Power Five.
• Ohio State destroyed Northwestern on Friday night on a game that was moved from FS1 to BTN.  This should have been at least a bit closer but, alas, it wasn’t.  Is there anyone that can beat tOSU?  Penn State might be the best chance during the regular season but don’t forget Wisconsin next week.  They could be playing angry after their epic loss.
• That was some fun FOOTBAW WEATHER Between The Hedges on Saturday.  The Kentucky-Georgia game turned into one of those old-school Big Ten games where the ball rarely went in the air.  I guess this made it so Kirby Smart wouldn’t have to make so many tough playcalling decisions since he doesn’t seem to be that good at those kinds of things.
• Boise State is no longer undefeated and the fact they lost to BYU, of all teams, is the most shocking part here.  But to lose to a guy named Baylor Romney may be even worse.  BYU’s newest quarterback had some tricks in his pocket as the Cougs looked really good against a Broncos team who just couldn’t make things work and couldn’t complete the comeback.  SMU and Appalachian State were VERY happy with the outcome of that game that’s for sure.
• Even though very few people got to see it, Kansas almost pulled off the upset against Texas.  A blocked extra point returned for two points turned out to be the difference in this one.  Let’s be honest here: Kansas still isn’t that good at all.  But with Les Miles there, it is only a matter of time before they are bowl-eligible and then…who knows.
• We finally got to see the new NCAA rule on Saturday!  Once teams hit the fifth overtime period, it becomes a two-point conversion shootout until we get a winner.  North Carolina and Virginia Tech went to six overtimes before the Heels were not able to convert on a conversion and the Hokies did to end the longest game in ACC history.  It was a ton of fun despite the fact there was some horrible football and questionable playcalling in the first four overtime periods.  The kicking sucked too.  All in all it was the most college football game of the weekend.

Man I honestly thought that weekend was going to turn out pretty crappy.  And it wasn’t.  Even though I missed most of the early games it turned out to be a fantastic day of college football.  We need more of these.  Now to the Bossman Top 25:

#1	Alabama
#2	LSU
#3	Penn State
#4	Oklahoma
#5	Ohio State
#6	Clemson
#7	Florida
#8	Oregon
#9	Notre Dame
#10	Utah
#11	Auburn
#12	Georgia
#13	Texas
#14	Baylor
#15	Wisconsin
#16	Minnesota
#17	SMU
#18	Michigan
#19	Iowa
#20	Iowa State
#21	Cincinnati
#22	Arizona State
#23	Boise State
#24	Appalachian State
#25	Wake Forest

Yes I have Clemson down at #6.  I don’t care what anyone thinks about that.  Let’s be honest here: if the Tigers win out they’re in, no ifs, ands or buts.  I also have no Group of Five team in the Top 15.  I can honestly see this being the case when the regular season ends unless there are no other undefeated teams (and even then).  Considering the weaker schedule, these teams (SMU, Cincinnati, Boise State, Appalachian State) need to start blowing teams out all the time.  Who gives a shit about hurt feelings.  Run up the damn score!  Finally, I himmed and hawed over whether to put Wake Forest or Virginia in at #25.  I put the Deacs in for now knowing that Virginia will get there eventually because they may have won the ACC Coastal already (what a gongshow of a division).  Remember there are ten undefeated teams remaining and it will be down to single digits by Halloween.  If there is a God, the next few weeks will have us down to like one or two.

Guess what?  No mid-week college football.  Last time I will say that for a while.  Soon we are getting into football every damn day for almost a month.  Yes, it’s Footballmania!  I’ll be back later this week with a full college football schedule and may discuss this a bit more.  Enjoy your week everyone!

So THAT’S how you heal back issues- Week 7 NFL TV Schedule

So now everyone, at least in sports, knows how to do it.  Thanks Jalen!

I think everyone kind of knew Jalen Ramsey was basically sitting out when he wasn’t playing for the Jaguars.  To say it was a back injury is ridiculous.  He wanted to be traded and wasn’t going to take the field in a light blue Jacksonville jersey again.  So why is this allowed?  I am sure there are some problems with having someone out for an injury that doesn’t exist.  Wouldn’t the NFL have something to say?  I guess not.  Honestly, the NFL doesn’t much care for the Jacksonville Jag-you-ares unless they are contemplating a move to London, England.  So having him traded to the Rams was definitely a plus for the league as they definitely want the league’s second biggest market to have strong teams.  Let’s not talk about the teams in the league’s biggest market for now.

Alright, let’s get to the matter of this post, the NFL schedule (which will include the Jags and the Rams):

Sunday Early

Oakland at Green Bay	Seattle, Spokane, Cleveland, Burlington, Boston		BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ottawa		Atlantic
Houston at Indianapolis
Jacksonville at Cincinnati
Miami at Buffalo	Buffalo, Rochester		Kitchener, Toronto
LA Rams at Atlanta
Arizona at NY Giants		Rochester, Burlington, Boston	Montreal, Atlantic
Minnesota at Detroit		Minneapolis, Detroit, Buffalo	Winnipeg, Northern Ontario		London, Toronto, Ottawa
San Francisco at Washington		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane		TSN2	Vancouver Island, Alberta

Sunday Late

LA Chargers at Tennessee	Minneapolis, Detroit
New Orleans at Chicago		Minneapolis, Detroit, Burlington			All affiliates (except Atlantic)
Baltimore at Seattle		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Buffalo, Rochester, Boston	All affiliates (except Atlantic)		Atlantic

Sunday/Monday Primetime

Philadelphia at Dallas	Sunday, 8:30, NBC, TSN 1/3/5, CTV Two
New England at NY Jets	Monday, 8:30, TSN 1/3/4

American Football Schedule for Canadians Notes and Stuff

• No London game this Sunday.  So none of that early morning football that I would struggle to wake up for.
• Guess what?  It’s CROSS-FLEX TIME!  FOX gets Baltimore-Seattle late which should be a good game.  CBS does not get a game in return so I assume they have already got an extra game from FOX or will be getting one in the future.  Why was this done?  I honestly have no idea because FOX could have had New Orleans-Chicago as AMERICA’S GAME OF THE WEEK and no one would have batted an eye.  They didn’t need Ravens-Seahawks.  Then again, I don’t know how these execs work.
• Only three games you can’t get here.  Does anyone care if they miss the big Jaguars-Bengals game?  If so, you might need to seek help.
• The Sunday Nighters have been either good games or games with good teams or both.  I mean it won’t last but at least NBC is doing well and/or getting lucky with the schedule.  This Sunday night’s is no exception as this is between two evenly matched not-so-bad teams.  As for the Monday nighter….ugh.  Not saying there hasn’t been any good ones because there has been.  But this one could very well be over by the 10 minute mark of the first quarter.
• Hey did anyone watch the Thursday Nighter?  Ugh.  What a shitshow.  Broncos get blown out.  Joe Flacco is not elite.  And Patrick Mahomes gets injured which fucks over my fantasy team.  Not a pleasant experience.

So there you go.  It should be another good Sunday of NFL football.  I hope I haven’t jinxed it now.  Have a great weekend!

Get ready for a lot of this Part II – Week 8 College Football TV Schedule

So last year at this time, it was the Nick Bosa issue.  Bosa decided to sit out the rest of the year to avoid injury and work on getting ready for the NFL Combine.  Now we have players redshirting, probably on the advice of their head coach, because the team isn’t going anywhere this season.  Next year will be better so why have your betters have their eligibility run out?  Again, am I surprised?  Like last year, no, I am not.  Teams are going to find ways to skirt the rules for lack of a better term.  They are using the redshirt rules (up to four games and then you can redshirt and not lose a year of eligibility) to their advantage.  I don’t blame these players/coaches/programs for doing this.  In my opinion they are being smart about this.

We are going to see more of this, guaranteed.  Why not?  Let’s be honest: none of this is even remotely associated with these players’ education.  It’s all about money.  And for coaches it’s all about holding on to their jobs longer.  If they can say that they are doing this so they need at least another year to truly have a chance to make it big with this program, they will get more money from their contract (although some of the buyout clauses are absurd).  College football: so pure and innocent, right?

Anywho, let’s get to the sked shall we?

Wednesday

		US	Canada
South Alabama at Troy	8:00 PM

Hey some TSN Fun Belt action!  Not a huge game but it really is the only thing on at night in terms of football.  This probably marks the TSN move to more college football that happens every year some time in October.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Louisiana at Arkansas State	7:30 PM
UCLA at Stanford	9:00 PM

Two games.  A Sun Belt game and a Pac-12 game.  Most people are probably going to watch the Thursday Night Football matchup or the ALCS thanks to the postponement of Game Four.  A UCLA-Stanford matchup doesn’t have the same zing it may have had a month or so ago since both teams have disappointed.

Friday

		US	Canada
Marshall at Florida Atlantic	6:30 PM
Pittsburgh at Syracuse	7:00 PM
#4 Ohio State at Northwestern	8:30 PM
UNLV at Fresno State	10:00 PM

Two CBS Sports Network games although I always find it weird when a game starts before 7 on a weeknight.  But hey, now we can watch the FOX Sports One game which probably ends up as a blowout but still….you can watch it if you have FloSports.  Other than that?  Meh.

UPDATE: tOSU-NW has been moved to the Big Ten Network because of the ALCS being moved to FOX Sports One.  The postponement and WWE Smackdown being on FOX made this all happen.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#3 Clemson at Louisville	Noon
Georgia Tech at Miami	Noon
#6 Wisconsin at Illinois	Noon
Kent State at Ohio	Noon
#9 Florida at South Carolina	Noon
Purdue at #23 Iowa	Noon
Houston at UConn	Noon
West Virginia at #5 Oklahoma	Noon
Iowa State at Texas Tech	Noon
NC State at Boston College	Noon
Lafayette at Georgetown	Noon
#11 Auburn at Arkansas	Noon

It’s an alright start to the day I guess.  Not as great as last week but still good.  Problem is it’s quite a few cases of a good, ranked team playing a not-so-good unranked team.  Also, if you are a masochist, you can immerse yourself in UConn football.

And yes there is a Peachtree doubleheader (at this point).  Never seen that before and it’s kind of bizarre to be frank.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#12 Oregon at #25 Washington	3:30 PM
Duke at Virginia	3:30 PM
#20 Minnesota at Rutgers	3:30 PM
Indiana at Maryland	3:30 PM
#2 LSU at Mississippi State	3:30 PM
USF at Navy	3:30 PM
Temple at #19 SMU	3:30 PM
Tulsa at #21 Cincinnati	3:30 PM
North Carolina at Virginia Tech	3:30 PM
Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech	3:30 PM
#18 Baylor at Oklahoma State	4:00 PM
#22 Missouri at Vanderbilt	4:00 PM
Middle Tennessee at North Texas	4:00 PM

Some pretty damn good games here.  OK more like one great game and a bunch of good ones.  Oregon-Washington could end up being massive in the Pac-12 scheme of things (and pretty much put the nail in the coffin for the conference).  Baylor has a bit of a landmine game as they head to Stillwater to play the Cowboys.  Oh and SMU is in tough to remain undefeated as they host Temple.  Finally, a Stadium game is being shown on Peachtree as the back half of their doubleheader.  Yes this is bizarre and unprecedented.  Not important but just watch it be an amazing game with a fantastic finish.

Saturday Primetime​

		US	Canada
Kentucky at #10 Georgia	6:00 PM
East Carolina at UCF	7:00 PM
Tulane at Memphis	7:00 PM
Colorado at Washington State	7:00 PM
#16 Michigan at #7 Penn State	7:30 PM
Florida State at Wake Forest	7:30 PM
Texas A&M at Ole Miss	7:30 PM

Again, the specialty pack showing four games in this timeslot.  Fifteen for Saturday, eighteen for the week.  That’s a loaded schedule.  The Michigan-PSU game is huge and could make my predictions about Michigan look terrible if the Nittany Lions pull off the win.  It also has the weird 6:00 ESPN timeslot which leads to something I loath: the three-hour window.  It’s like ESPN, who is basically the home for college football, has no idea about how long college football games take.  Ugh.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Tennessee at #1 Alabama	9:00 PM
#14 Boise State at BYU	10:15 PM
Nevada at Utah State	10:15 PM
Air Force at Hawaii	11:00 PM

The back half of the weird 6:00-9:00 (69, hehehe) ESPN doubleheader has Tennessee probably being dominated by Alabama.  Big game in Provo that could put the Group of Five in a massive ball of chaos.  And late-night start (here) as we get CBSSN going to the islands for Hawaii Fighting Rainbow Warriors football!

Games to set your eyeballs on

Michigan at Penn State (7:30, ABC) – Big Blue vs. The Whiteout.  This is the Wolverines’ chance to truly get back in the College Football Playoff conversation.  But we know that playing Penn State, at night, during the Whiteout at Beaver Stadium, is one of the toughest college football atmospheres to play in.  Biggest game of the week and a huge determining factor in what will happen in the Big Ten East.

Oregon at Washington (3:30, ABC) – Could Mario Cristobal’s Oregon Ducks be the Pac-12’s best CFP hope?  They almost clinch the Pac-12 North with a win in Seattle this Saturday.  This could mean the Ducks are finally back for the first time since the Chip Kelly era.  As for Washington, hey Chris Petersen…there you go.  A game starting at 12:30 locally.  So stop bitching about game times since this could have easily been put on late night on ESPN.

Arizona State at Utah (6:00, Pac-12 Network) – This is a coup for the Pac-12 Network.  Unlike the Big Ten Network or SEC Network, the Pac-12 Network never gets games like this.  I am honestly surprised this wouldn’t have somehow made its way to FOX but this is what happens during the baseball playoffs.  Anyway, Herm Edwards has done an impressive job with the Sun Devils and they would be on the precipice of the Top 10 (I know…crazy!) with a win in the Mormon state.  When was the last time the Sun Devils were true contenders?  Back in the Jake “The Snake” Plummer days?

Temple at SMU (3:30, TSN2) – Did anyone think the freakin’ SMU Mustangs would be undefeated at this point?  Honestly I am surprised it didn’t somehow get an ABC timeslot because I know Disney likes to put the huge American conference games on there.  Temple upset Memphis last week and could finish off the upset double if they somehow win in Dallas this weekend.  Saying that, part of me would love to have SMU, undefeated, as a New Year’s Six contender going into November because it is so out of left field.

Baylor at Oklahoma State (4:00, FOX) – Another team that no one thought would be undefeated.  I know that a lot of people still hate Baylor thanks to Art Briles.  I get it but I start to feel its unfair to the current staff and current players (and current students for that matter).  He’s not there anymore, people so who gives a fuck.  Let’s celebrate the fact that we have an odd contender to the Big XII king (Oklahoma) other than Texas.  Matt Rhule has done a fantastic job as the Bears head man but this feels like a huge landmine game.  Again, this team could go into their game against the Sooners, undefeated, with perhaps a CFP spot on the line.  We need more programs other than the blue bloods every year.

Honourable mention: Kentucky at Georgia (6:00, specialty pack); Boise State at BYU (10:15, TSN2); LSU at Mississippi State (3:30, CBS)

Some gambling fun and games

I have no shame in saying I was wrong in some of my picks last week.  Honestly, I never have shame for that.  Here’s this week picks:

Boise State over BYU

SMU over Temple

Georgia over Kentucky

LSU over Mississippi State

Washington over Oregon (mild upset)

Utah over Arizona State

Penn State over Michigan

Oklahoma State over Baylor (huge upset)

North Texas over Middle Tennessee

Duke over Virginia (another upset)

Ohio over Kent State

Early schedule post this week thanks to the Wednesday night game although don’t expect this every week.  I just figured I had some time so I could get this out early for all you readers.  See what a nice guy I am?

Tomorrow night we also have some Thursday Night Football as per usual.  It’s the Broncos and Chiefs.  Honestly this should be a blowout but the Chiefs have looked relatively average over the past few weeks.  I wonder if Joe and Troy will just do more Smackdown promo reads if things get out of hand.

So we shall see how my viewing goes this weekend.  Busy time early on.  Fantasy basketball draft at night.  Anyway, I will figure out a way.  Either that or I will spend a couple hours just watching highlights on Sunday.  Have a great weekend everyone (despite the fact it’s only hump day).

Finally! – Week 7 College Football Recap

It wasn’t a ton of chaos but there was still a bit which makes Professor Chaos happy…I think.  It was about damn time.  We’ve needed some movement in the rankings since the first month-and-a-bit of the season had very little of that.  So let’s get on to the recap:

Hold that Tiger!  LSU had the biggest win in the biggest game as they beat Florida in a rivalry that seems to be blooming.  And for once it’s all about LSU’s offense.  It’s the one thing the Tigers have been missing for years but now that they have it, it is scary for other teams in the SEC for sure.  After many failed attempts, LSU has arrived again.  I am sure CBS is already working to get the Bama-LSU game in primetime.  They’d be smart to give ESPN whatever they want to make that happen.

QUACK!  QUACK!  Oregon is starting to look like the dominating force they once were.  The Ducks made easy work of Cal and has created a bit of a stranglehold at the top of the Pac-12.  It is their Pac-12 North to lose now although we know how the Pac-12 has worked as of late.  They are probably the Pac-12’s only College Football Playoff hope at this point.

Can’t blame Mark Richt for this one:  Georgia never seemed in this one.  South Carolina wasn’t dominating play but there certainly seemed like the better team.  But Georgia had chances to win.  And they could never capitalize on those.  The playcalling of Kirby Smart was also strange especially down the stretch.  Nothing went right for UGA and now their CFP chances have taken a huge hit.

I don’t know why I keep falling for this:  Maybe it’s because I hope Bama will lose because it will create CHAOS.  I honestly thought the Aggies would keep it close with the Tide.  Boy was I ever wrong.  Alabama keeps on rolling and very little seems in their way that could stop them (at least during the regular season).

Bronco Buster:  I figured it would be Miami and Virginia for the ACC Coastal title.  Well the Canes haven’t exactly lit it up so far this season.  Both teams played quite well on defense and the Turnover Chain got to make a few appearances.  The offenses were less than good in this one.  However it was The U that did just enough to get into the division catbird seat.  Or not.  I don’t really know.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up a 7-way tie for the title with every team at 4-4.  Oh wait, Georgia Tech is in that division.  Six-way tie.   Yeah, six-way tie.

Red River Battle Royale:  Hey wasn’t that fun?  It was a good game that started with a bit of a brew-ha-ha which prompted “The Gun Show” Mike Defee to give everyone an unsportsmanlike penalty.  Can you imagine if the entire sideline got two warnings during the game.  What happens then?  Technically the entire team would be thrown out.  That would have been something to behold.  Anyway, the Sooners basically outlasted Texas in this one and has taken a big stranglehold on the Big XII that might only be broken by Baylor.  Yes, Baylor.

You just got LAWRENCED!  That sounds disgusting but may be true for some women on the campus at Clemson University.  Florida State was never able to hang with the Tigers.  In the end it was Trevor Lawrence who had one of his best games of his career as they annihilated the Seminoles.  Clemson keeps on chugging and really has no roadblocks now to get to the CFP.  Florida State is going to have to do some work to be bowl eligible and to save Willie Taggart’s job as he is on quite the hot seat now in Tallahassee.

Is Wisconsin’s defense that good?  Their defense could be the best this century.  Forget Clemson’s defense a year ago: this Badger D could be better.  They are halfway through their season and have allowed only 29 points with four shutouts.  Geez.  Their game in two weeks with Ohio State could be something special.  Interesting to see how Justin Fields does with this.

Baylor?  Baylor!  If anyone of you thought Baylor would be 6-0, put your hands down because I know you’re lying.  Will they finish undefeated?  I doubt it.  But this is still a huge accomplishment for Matt Rhule and the Bears.  And it took two overtimes to beat a fairly good Texas Tech team to remain unblemished.  There is now a very real possibility that the Bears could be 9-0 when they play Oklahoma in November.  This is the kind of chaos I love.

So is Utah finally going to get its chance?  Kyle Whittingham and the Utes really do have the Pac-12 South by its balls.  They have everything going for them and hold their destiny in their hands.  Utah destroyed Oregon State on Saturday and looks to be set up to cause some major damage the rest of the way.  And maybe this time the Utes will score more than 3 points in the Pac-12 Championship if they get there.

Biggest upset of the week goes to…  Bowling Green.  Yes, Bowling Fucking Green.  In a game very few watched because of the schedule, the Falcons came in to their game against Toledo as 26.5 point underdogs.  Yet they thoroughly whipped the hapless Rockets in spectacular fashion.  First win for BG over Toledo in a decade to win the Battle of I-75.  Nice.

Another close call for the Irish:  Not saying USC is horrible but Notre Dame should have beaten pretty handily.  This shouldn’t have been close yet it was.  They don’t have a super easy schedule the rest of the way but all the games are winnable.  They go 11-1 and they would have a really good shot at the College Football Playoff and, again, many people wouldn’t like that at all.  Knowing this team, I can see one slip up the rest of the way to make The Committee’s job easier…well at least when it comes to the CFP.  The New Year’s Six, not as easy.

Good lord Vanderbilt:  What the fuck is going on in Nashville?  Vandy loses big to UNLV.  UNLV.  Unbelievable.  I think Derek Mason’s time as head man of the Commodores is about to come to an end as this could be the worst Vandy team since before James Franklin was coaching there.

Orange Britches!  The Volunteers of Tennessee have won an SEC game!  There had to be a few people out there who wondered when that would be said again.  But against Mississippi State?  I think the Joe Moorhead honeymoon is now over.  I hate to say he may be on the hot seat but it’s getting warm.  And Tennessee may not be as bad as we thought?  I say that six days before they play Alabama in Bryant-Denny at night.  Let’s hope they keep it within 30 so Saban gets REALLY angry.

Frost Warning:  OK nobody thought Minnesota would be that good.  But Nebraska is, yet again, worse than most people thought.  You know, except for all those people who are going “Oh yeah I definitely didn’t think Nebraska would be that good.  I figured they would be exactly where they are right now.”  And then you see they have no proof of that and you then know you are talking to one of “those people.”  The ones who tell everyone about what they did right but man, when it’s something wrong, they lack that one thing…what’s it called?  Oh yeah, accountability.  Wow, that took a bit of a dark turn.

Well all in all it was a fun weekend of college football.  So now let’s get to the Bossman Top 25:

#1	Alabama
#2	LSU
#3	Oklahoma
#4	Ohio State
#5	Clemson
#6	Penn State
#7	Notre Dame
#8	Wisconsin
#9	Florida
#10	Oregon
#11	Auburn
#12	Georgia
#13	Michigan
#14	Utah
#15	Boise State
#16	Arizona State
#17	Texas
#18	Baylor
#19	Missouri
#20	SMU
#21	Minnesota
#22	Washington
#23	Iowa
#24	Cincinnati
#25	Iowa State

That was quite the week in movements in the Top 25.  Basically #1 is set and after that it is a complete gongshow and no one would be wrong with their own personal rankings (well, unless you put Illinois in your Top 25).  Some would put Boise State higher up after a win over Hawaii but I don’t buy that…yet.  Let’s be honest: their schedule will not help them and any hope of them getting to the CFP hinges on chaos above them (which I am fully for).  This weekend helped but won’t be nearly enough.  As a bit of an aside, what is with College Gameday going to State College instead of Dallas to showcase a Top 25 SMU team?  The stories write themselves there.  Nope, go for the Whiteout.  Of course.  Nothing against Penn State but this is another mark against the Group of Five and college football’s perception of those programs.

As for what I think the CFP combatants will be, here is what I think will end up being the rankings at the top (at this time):

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma
4. Ohio State
5. LSU
6. Utah
7. Georgia

The top three are basically set as long as they don’t mess things up royally.  It’s the number four spot that will be under a lot of scrutiny.  The rest of those teams all will or might have black marks on their resume.  None of the Group of Five teams will be in this conversation and I am pretty sure about that.  This basically says that Bama will beat LSU later on which means that the Big Ten would probably send its champ at that point.  At this point, I think Ohio State but Wisconsin could be in the mix as well.  Way too much football to play to make any definitive statements.

Alright, in the end, it was a good weekend of college football.  Let’s hope for a lot more the rest of the way.  Enjoy your week everyone!

Seriously, Richard? Week 6 NFL TV Schedule

Look.  Richard.  You lied.  Plain and simple.  And you thought you could get away with it.  Which if there weren’t like 10,000 cameras watching everything you probably could have.  Baker Mayfield shook your hand.  Just admit it and let it go.  Don’t double down.  And don’t say it doesn’t change your thoughts about Mayfield surrounding the whole thing.  Just shut the fuck up.  For once.  Normally you are the smart guy in the crowd.  So how about let us fans still believe that, OK?  Anyway…I mean if Sherman had just said something along the lines of “Mayfield is a bit of a prick” many probably would have agreed.  Alright I’m done with this now.  Schedule time!

Sunday Morning

Carolina vs. Tampa Bay (in London)

9:30, NFL Network, CTV

Sunday Early

 

Houston at Kansas City	All affiliates (except Spokane & Cleveland)		Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa, Atlantic		Vancouver Island, Alberta
New Orleans at Jacksonville	Spokane			TSN5
Cincinnati at Baltimore	Cleveland
Philadelphia at Minnesota		Minneapolis, Detroit, Rochester, Burlington	Montreal, Winnipeg		Ottawa
Seattle at Cleveland		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Buffalo, Boston	BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan		London, Toronto, Atlantic
Washington at Miami

Sunday Late

 

Dallas at N.Y. Jets	All affiliates		All affiliates (except Atlantic)	TSN5	Atlantic
Tennessee at Denver
San Francisco at LA Rams
Atlanta at Arizona

Sunday/Monday Primetime

Pittsburgh at LA Chargers	Sunday, 8:30, NBC, TSN 1/3/4/5, CTV Two
Detroit at Green Bay	Monday, 8:30, TSN 1/3/4/5

Random Analysis

• I feel bad for the people who somehow get their CBS feed out of Cleveland.  Bengals-Ravens?  That could be the worst game on the early schedule.  No wait…Redskins-Dolphins is but at least that is the Tua Tank Bowl and might mean something.  Bengals-Ravens feels like punishment.
• TSN is only going with Chan(n)el Number Five this Sunday.  At least they are picking up the Saints-Jaguars game early.  Should be a decent game and almost no one north of the border is getting it.  Good job guys!
• Lions-Packers could honestly be a great Monday nighter.  The Sunday night…that’s a different story.  The Chargers are OK so far and should be better but the Steelers are atrocious so far and have lost their top two quarterbacks.  Then again the AFC North kind of looks like shit so far so who knows…they may be in it come December.
• Four games can’t be seen here in Canada (if you are DAZN-less).  Three of them are late!  Never seen a disparity like this  Everyone is getting Cowboys-Jets in the late game whether you like it or not.
• Second London game of the season.  This one, however, is a 9:30 one (at least in my neck of the woods).  After watching college football all day and night on Saturday (for the most part) I don’t even know if I will be up by 9:30 in the morning.  Actually I am a liar.  I’m 41.  I will have to get up and take a shit at like 7:30 and not be able to go back to sleep because it’s 7:30.  It’s the way things are as you get older.

Alright let’s hope for a good weekend of football and some close games…maybe some overtime…last-second field goals…a tie even.  Not asking much.  Enjoy the games everyone!

Now we get to the important part of the schedule – the Week 7 College Football TV Schedule

OK so the last two weeks haven’t been exactly barnburners in terms of excitement.  We are bound to get a week or two like that but two in a row really wears you down (or at least the people that watch all 14 hours of action which includes the college football media and me I guess).  So what do we get this week?  Oh baby it’s quite the schedule as we get into the meat of conference play.  It should be better.  It has to be better…right?

That’s all I got.  What a shitty opener.  But hey who cares?  It’s not like this is for Saturday Night Live or something like that.  Anyway, let’s just get to the god damn schedule already, OK Bossman?  Alright let’s go.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Bethune-Cookman at NC Central	6:00 PM
Syracuse at NC State	8:00 PM
ULM at Texas State	9:15 PM

Three games.  Nothing big although Cuse-NCST could be an interesting ACC matchup that will ultimately end up determining nothing.

Friday

		US	Canada
Lafayette at Princeton	7:00 PM
Colorado State at New Mexico	8:00 PM
#20 Virginia at Miami	8:00 PM
Colorado at #13 Oregon	10:00 PM

Four games with two relatively important ones here.  Virginia-Miami could end up being for the ACC Coastal title, which is kind of a sad sentence to type.  Colorado could bury the Pac-12 even further if they can somehow beat Oregon.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#16 Michigan at Illinois	Noon
Maryland at Purdue	Noon
Rutgers at Indiana	Noon
Toledo at Bowling Green	Noon
South Carolina at #3 Georgia	Noon
#23 Memphis at Temple	Noon
Miami-OH at Western Michigan	Noon
#6 Oklahoma vs. #11 Texas (in Dallas)	Noon
Mississippi State at Tennessee	Noon
Georgia Tech at Duke	12:30 PM

TSN showing at least more than one game in this timeslot which is a bit of an improvement.  No ACC Network game early though which makes no sense since GT-Duke is on a regional FOX network.  Honestly there are two games that seem important and the rest are not bad.  A pretty good noon schedule and a nice start to the day.  Back to the ACC Network thing, I think the biggest beneficiary has been the MAC since I don’t remember seeing this many MAC games on ESPNU on Saturdays ever before.  Props to them.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Florida State at #2 Clemson	3:30 PM
Michigan State at #8 Wisconsin	3:30 PM
#1 Alabama at #24 Texas A&M	3:30 PM
BYU at USF	3:30 PM
#25 Cincinnati at Houston	3:30 PM
UConn at Tulane	3:45 PM
Rhode Island at Virginia Tech	4:00 PM
Iowa State at West Virginia	4:00 PM
Texas Tech at #22 Baylor	4:00 PM
UNLV at Vanderbilt	4:00 PM

The afternoon schedule might be the weakest of three timeslots (excluding late night).  That does not happen often.  Bama-TAMU could be an interesting game if the Aggies and their 12th man can keep things close late.  MSU-Wisky gets a BTN afternoon game.  Weird but I know BTN has done this in the past with Wisconsin.  They take an early Wisky game to satisfy the criteria of every Big Ten team having at least one conference game on Big Ten Network during the season.  This makes it so they don’t have to take a late season game that could be huge where ABC/ESPN or FOX would be loath to give them a game of that calibre (which may force a buyout of sorts which is a totally different conversation).

Other than the schedule is average.  TSN still isn’t in to showing games past the Noon timeslot.  ESPN’s games are going with the bizarre four-hour windows today.  I mean yeah this will make sure all the games fit in their timeslots but it eliminates a late night game.  Not gonna complain since I have come around on bizarre timeslots because of me not using the PVR anymore.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Fresno State at Air Force	7:00 PM
Ole Miss at Missouri	7:00 PM
#10 Penn State at #17 Iowa	7:30 PM
Louisville at #19 Wake Forest	7:30 PM
Navy at Tulsa	7:30 PM
Nebraska at Minnesota	7:30 PM
USC at #9 Notre Dame	7:30 PM
Arkansas at Kentucky	7:30 PM
#7 Florida at #5 LSU	8:00 PM

Oh baby.  Now this…this is a primetime schedule.  Florida-LSU.  PSU-Iowa.  USC-ND.  Almost every game (save maybe Arkansas-Kentucky) looks like a good game (on paper).  Now watch all of them be duds.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Hawaii at #14 Boise State	10:15 PM
Wyoming at San Diego State	10:30 PM
Washington at Arizona	11:00 PM

Even a pretty good late night sked.  This is quite the weekend I have to say.  Hawaii could throw a huge wrench into Boise’s New Year’s Six plans with a win.  Wyoming-SDSU should be a pretty even affair.  And Arizona, of all teams, could push ahead and become the leading contender in the Pac-12 South.  Could be a crazy end to a great day.  I plan on getting no sleep thanks to the 11:00 Eastern start to the Pac-12 After Dark game.  Geez.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Florida at LSU (8:00, TSN2) – Easily the biggest game of the week, despite the fact there are a bunch of good games.  A Florida win keeps the Gator train running towards Jacksonville and a mega-matchup with Georgia in the Cocktail Party.  An LSU win means we are running headlong into their matchup with Alabama and a potential for CBS to pay big bucks to get this game in primetime.  The loser has pretty much no chance at the College Football Playoff.  Don’t be surprised, though, if both these teams, at the end of the season, end up in the New Year’s Six no matter who wins this huge affair.

Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas) (Noon, FOX) – OK maybe UF-LSU isn’t easily the biggest game of the week.  This could be massive if the Longhorns can pull off the (minor) upset.  Have to call if the Big XII game of the year unless some other team keeps climbing the ladder like Baylor.  The Red River Shootout is always fun to watch because who the hell knows what you are going to get.  You could get a normal Big XII PEW PEW shootout or, for some odd reason, a defensive struggle.  Don’t be surprised if it happens.  I’m still waiting for TV to push for this game to be in primetime despite the fact that area of Dallas is dangerous after dark.  All about the bucks people (and I ain’t talking the Buckeyes).

Penn State at Iowa (7:30, ABC) – Iowa losing means Wisconsin would be in the catbird seat in the Big Ten West with only Minnesota and maybe Nebraska to challenge them.  A Penn State win can also set up one of the most unlikely games of the year: Minnesota-PSU in early November.  That could actually be a contender to be on ABC in primetime which would be huge for a program like the Gophers.  Anyway, back to this game: it should be close.  I could see it being like 16-13 which is exactly what ABC/Disney wants: a close game.

Memphis at Temple (Noon, TSN3) – This is where the Group of Five New Year’s Six spot (or at least my choice to represent the G-5) could change on a dime.  Memphis isn’t in the driver’s seat at this point..  But if the Tigers keep winning then they should end up passing Boise State and being the NY6 representative considering the schedule they have (which would include a win over UCF or Cincinnati in the AAC Championship game).  A Temple victory, however, opens the door for a few more teams.  This could lead to the doors being blown right off if Boise State loses during the regular season.

Michigan State at Wisconsin (3:30, BTN) – The Big Ten Network lucked out by getting this game.  Michigan State is still a pretty good team and Wisconsin is still in the Top 10.  This is why these conference networks are important and will be around for a while.  They have minimum game amounts for each team to appear on the network and BTN makes sure that at least one of those games is a conference game (as I mentioned above).  Now that I get BTN I kind of hope this is a really good game and maybe Sparty can pull off the upset…ok I am not going down that road again.

Honourable mention: Alabama at Texas A&M (3:30, CBS); Washington State at Arizona State (3:30, Pac-12 Network); USC at Notre Dame (7:30, NBC)

Some gambling fun and games

I’m sure most of us picked the Spartans to beat Ohio State last week, right?  I will say yes so I don’t feel that bad about that pick.  I got two of three upset picks correct (WOOHOO!) but some of the other picks were so very wrong.  Let’s erase that from our memories (I know that’s what I’m doing) and move on to this week’s picks.  Here we go:

LSU over Florida (but it will be close)

Alabama over Texas A&M (this will also be close I believe)

Wisconsin over Michigan State

Iowa over Penn State (mild upset?)

Oklahoma over Texas

Washington State over Arizona State

Notre Dame over USC

Memphis over Temple

Clemson over Florida State

Boise State over Hawaii

Western Michigan over Miami-OH

Last night’s game was a good one with Appalachian State holding on to beat Louisiana.  Basically it’s the Mountaineers’ conference to lose and if they run the table, it could be really interesting to see where they rank among the Group of Five teams for the NY6 spot.

Thursday Night Football and another NFL game.  I guess you could consider it a big game as Dandy Daniel Jones meets a guy who could be his father, Tom Brady.  The Giants go to Foxboro to face the Patriots in a game where a Giants win somehow gets them right into the NFC East competition at the amazing record of…3-3.  That division really isn’t that great which is shocking but true.  What happened to it?  I am sure one team (probably the Eagles) will run away with it and win eleven games but still…at this point it’s not a whole lot better than the AFC North or AFC South.  It’s pretty pathetic (at this point).

I will be busy this Saturday at least for part of the day since people have lives and want to GASP! schedule things on Saturdays in the Fall.  I don’t get it.  Why isn’t everyone else a college football fan like me and watch 14-plus hours of games and get nothing done because you are sitting and watching football all day and ah now I get it.  Oh well…I have never said I get a lot of shit done in the Fall since I don’t.  Anyway, everyone enjoy the games since I know I will!